Shark Attack Survivors News Archive

06/30/2011 Cassidy Cartwright ( North Carolina )

06/30/2011 Cassidy Cartwright ( North Carolina )

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:37 pm

by alb

Shark bites girl at North Topsail Beach

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, NC (WWAY) -- A family from Pennsylvania was excited to be visiting North Carolina for the first time, but their trip to North Topsail Beach did not end on a good note. The Cartwrights 10-year-old old daughter was bitten by something in the knee-deep water that led to her being airlifted to an area hospital.

"I didn't hurt at first," Cassidy Cartwright said. "It pulled me down, and it hurt. I just thought it was somebody messing around, and I found out that it wasn't 'cause it pulled me down again."

Cassidy is now recovering at UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill after her close encounter with a predator at North Topsail Beach. She was playing with her body board in the ocean when her mother Carolyn saw blood and quickly pulled her daughter out with the help of a friend.

"Together we got her out, but when he pulled out of the water her leg was wide open and it was just... a lot of blood," Carolyn said.

Cassidy was air lifted to New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Her mom says the doctors there said it was the worst the bite they'd seen.

"At that point I guess we assumed it was a shark bite, but it wasn't until we got to UNC that they had found a shark tooth in her leg," Carolyn said.

The bite broke Cassidy's Achilles tendon and did other damage to her lower leg.

Carolyn is glad her daughter is OK, but she also thinks North Topsail Beach could have done a better job alerting beach visitors when attacks like this happen. She says no one said anything to anyone along the beach after it happened.

"I think the one thing that people don't understand is is that there are sharks in the water," North Topsaidl Beach Town Manager Steve Foster said. "That's where they live, but people are not one of the main things they want to go after. But as far as response, I think we responded appropriately in this situation."

With the 4th of the July holiday around the corner, Carolyn Cartwright shares some advice with parents.

"It can happen," she said. "(You need) to be aware of the situation, the risk that you are putting your child into. Just be educated."

The Cartwrights are expected to go back home to Pennsylvania in the next two days.

Re: 06/30/2011 Cassidy Cartwright ( North Carolina )

Cassidy Cartwright was standing in 3 feet of water when the bull shark bit her leg.

The 10-year-old native of Erie, Penn. was vacationing in North Topsail Beach, N.C. with her mother and several other people when the shark attacked her on June 26.

At the time, she didn’t realize what was happening.

“It felt like somebody pulling on my leg or messing around,” she said in a phone interview with the Tribune on Monday. “We realized something bit me when my mom saw my leg. We guessed it was a shark when we got to the hospital, and then they found a tooth in my leg.”

Cartwright is the daughter of Hornell native Keith Cartwright, and is the granddaughter of Maple City resident Ruth Ann Bebout. A benefit is scheduled for her from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Hornell Association on Broadway, with tickets priced at $5.

Anyone looking for tickets can call Bebout at (607) 324-5648. The tickets are the same price at the door the day of the benefit. Bebout estimated that 450 tickets have already been sold.

Bebout, who said Cassidy is known in the area and has been enrolled in the past in YMCA programs, first thought of the idea. Cassidy will be attending the benefit with her father.

“I work at the Association, and the board of directors kind of encouraged me to go ahead and do it. They’ve helped immensely,” she said.

The benefit includes several raffles and a chinese auction including a big-screen television and a new generator. Future’s Past will provide musical entertainment.

Money raised at the benefit will go toward Cassidy’s medical expenses. Right now, she’s using a wheelchair at school, and is also walking with crutches and a walker.

She’s working her way through physical therapy twice a week added her mother, Carolyn Cartwright. When Cassidy will be back to full-strength is unclear.

“She’s handling it well. She’s come a long way,” said Carolyn Cartwright. “The first few months were rough, but she’s been though a lot and and handled it well. She has a very good attitude.”